Fostering Good Relations
by managerie
Summary: Gen would have needed a place to wait out the paperwork. Takes place after the conflict, but before Gen enters the academy. Missing Scene,Episode Related. Episode: s03e05 Razgovor, Episode: s01e02 Ghosts


Teresa Whitaker walked into their kitchen and froze. Next to her Aunt Elizabeth was Harold. Alarmed, she dropped her book bag."What's happened? Did they find us?"

Harold stood awkwardly but quickly. "No Teresa. Everything is fine." He gestured with his hands for calm then indicated Elizabeth. "I was just asking your Aunt to foster a bright young girl until I could get guardianship over her. I will be sending her to an academy. Not to worry. She will be out of your hair in a few weeks."

Teresa was not mollified. "Is John okay?" When she stepped closer to Harold a large dog with an orange vest stood up and glared at her. "Whoa, you got a dog!"

Harold said to the dog, "Bear! Af Staan." Then he turned to Teresa. "Yes, this is Bear. He is a trained military service dog. He uses Dutch commands. I have told him you are to be trusted. You can pet him but be careful."

Teresa knelt down to hold out her hand so Bear could sniff it as Harold sat and continued to explain. "John is fine. In fact, Bear is his dog."

Teresa nodded as she ran her hands over Bear's soft ears."To protect you. Good."

Harold's mouth pinched. "Well, we use Bear in our work."

Teresa didn't look up as she smoothed out the vest and scratched Bear's head which made the canine push into her hands. "But Bear is here to keep you safe while John works. Good. You need more protection than just a phone sometimes."

Harold harrumphed but let it go. He looked to Mrs. Whitaker. "As I have said, Gen is bright and resourceful. She should be here in a few hours. She will be under my guardianship soon, but paperwork does take time. She will need a safe place to stay until child services approves the paperwork. Also, I do not want her to know what I look like. It makes it easier if she has only one contact. Miss Shaw is that contact. She is, I acknowledge a bit rough around the edges but is very dedicated to Gen."

"Where's John?" Teresa suddenly asked.

"Teresa!" Her aunt admonished the interruption.

Finch looked from the aunt to Teresa. "He will be here to pick me up momentarily. He wanted to see you as well."

Teresa shrugged and hid her face behind her hair as she bent to rub Bear again. She mumbled, "That's cool. Whatever."

Harold looked thoughtful for a moment then asked Elizabeth, "Bear needs a good walk, could Teresa accompany me around the block?"

"Sure. " Mrs. Whitaker answered then looked to her niece. "Teresa?"

Again the teen shrugged. "Sure. No big."

They leashed Bear. Harold took the reins as man, beast and young lady left through the front door. They walked a few yards from the house before Teresa said, "It's good to see you Harold."

Harold leaned back to look at her face. "I write you once a week."

She shrugged. "Not the same as seeing you. I've been worried about you. You could have written a ton of letters and had them sent by a service once a week." She looked away and across the street. "I'd never know if you were still alive or anything."

Harold sighed."Teresa. I know you have had to worry about so many factors for years, but this is the time in your life that you need only concern yourself about your studies, social life and your future. Let your Aunt and I worry about everything else. We are the adults; we do the worrying."

"I know." Teresa's voice cracked a bit as she still refused to look at Harold. "It's just, I can't really connect with the kids at school and it's weird for me." Finally, Teresa looked ahead so Finch could see her profile. "Now that I have you, John, and Aunt Beth it's nice to have people to worry about. Ya know?"

"I do understand." Finch nodded as they turned the corner. They walked to the next corner before Harold found his voice again. "As to your classmates. They have never had to fight for survival as you have. You can either see this as an impenetrable gulf between you or as a special opportunity."

Teresa glared at him. Finch knew this meant the young lady did not understand but would not ask him to explain. So, he continued, "You will never have the same stories as they do. You will always have an interesting conversation just comparing histories."

She snorted. "The worst they've had to deal with is losing their iphone or the football captain didn't text them back immediately."

"Yes, well you have a choice to make." They were rounding the last corner which would bring them back to Teresa's house so Harold stopped them. He turned to face the young girl. "You can either sneer at them for being shallow or you can be happy that other people will never know the horror of losing everything the way you have."

Finch looked away into the far distance, his focus unclear. His voice became quiet, earnest, and soft. "For me, I have always rejoiced that the average person will forever be ignorant of the depth of pain and loss I have experienced or witnessed."

He smiled down at the beautiful face of one of his successful endeavors. "It makes me glad. You see, what happened to us and the people John and I help is rare. So rare, that it only takes a handful of people to help these unfortunates. Humanity is, for the most part trauma free."

Teresa looked doubtful. "You are a seriously odd man, Harold Finch."

She started walking and Bear tugged Harold along. After a beat she asked, "So, Gen? She's gonna be your ward now to complete the Bruce Wayne thing you got going?"

It was Harold's turn to snort. "I do not think I qualify as Batman."

"No." Teresa teased. "You're Bruce Wayne. John is Batman."

Harold stared at her through narrowed eyes then said, "I guess that makes Bear Ace: The Bat-hound."

Teresa laughed outright. "You know your comics."

"Teresa." Finch intoned in a patient voice. "Look at me. If I were anymore of the stereotypical nerd I would have tape between my glasses."

They both heard a dark, rich laugh and looked to the source. There, leaning against a neighborhood watch sign was John. Teresa lost the cool detachment and ran with Bear to greet him. Harold stayed where he was and quirked one of his small, self-satisfied half smiles.


End file.
